Buckets

 

I have a five-gallon bucket problem. And the problem is, I need more of them.

I would classify myself as “bucket reliant,” verging on “bucket obsessed.” While I have salvaged most of my buckets from construction sites and from products I purchased that came with them, I am perfectly willing (and have) purchased them outright at the hardware store.

What follows is an accounting of my buckets as of today:

• 2 buckets reserved for changing filters and water in my hot tub.
• 2 buckets for potting soil or collecting rocks.
• 2 buckets for hauling split lengths of firewood.
• 1 bucket for kindling.
• 1 bucket for chainsaw oil and assorted chainsaw appurtenances.
• 1 bucket for weed eater and chainsaw fuel.
• 1 bucket used as a utility trash can.
• 1 “roving” bucket that is presently being used for collecting ash from the woodstove.

And, on another list, five-gallon buckets place number two on my personal top three non-tool items of supreme utility, which goes as follows:

1. Duct tape
2. Five-gallon buckets
3. WD-40

As mentioned earlier, I need more buckets. I would like to have at least two more empty contingency buckets on hand, because experience suggests that an unassigned bucket is never unassigned for long.

—Mitchell Hegman